Translator: Vivi from dummytranslations
Editor: Drago
Proofreader: SleepyMango123
Scheming white lotus(4.10) - Don’t do such meaningless stuff like this again

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At the end of the year, a few of Gu Hai Sheng’s properties came under investigation. Afraid that Shen Ze might do something, Xiang Han watched him like a hawk.

However, in reality, Shen Ze had been nothing but honest since school break started. He stayed at home everyday, and if he wasn’t reading, he would be sleeping. It was as if his whole person had changed.

Xiang Han was curious and couldn’t resist asking, “About that, aren’t you worried about Mr. Gu anymore?”

“I’m worried.” Shen Ze reclined on the sofa while his fingers flipped the pages of a textbook.

“Oh.” Xiang Han nodded, seemingly deep in thought. “But recently, you never ask about him anymore.”

Shen Ze didn’t even look up, “If, even the old geezer can’t do anything, I’ll only be adding more trouble by asking.”

Xiang Han couldn’t help but become even more surprised, and secretly thought to himself, Shen Ze had become smarter, it was indeed completely different from the original plot.

“Actually… you need not worry too much. Last time I heard, Mr Gu and Mr Lin are childhood sweethearts, he’ll definitely help him.” Xiang Han tried to comfort him.

The original storyline started after Gu Hai Sheng was released from jail and a death occurred at a bar under his name. Lin Rui Qing had been sent to investigate, causing them to reunite and deepen their sentiments through mutual cooperation. But the script had established that both of them knew each other from school, and were even neighbours.

There were a few times where Gu Hai Sheng’s sentence was lightened due to Lin Rui Qing’s intervention. However, where Lin Rui Qing still treated him as a good friend, Gu Hai Sheng had already been holding a torch for him ever since high school.

After hearing his words, Shen Ze’s fingers lingered on the page for a while before looking up carelessly, “Childhood sweethearts is used to describe a couple.”

“This is not the point.” Xiang Han pursed his lips.

Shen Ze continued, “Mr Lin has gone on a business trip and will come back only after some time.”

“How did you know?” Xiang Han asked in surprise. Hadn’t he always been at home, and he hadn’t seen him ask anything either.

Shen Ze didn’t reply, only shaking his head. “Brother Gu won’t allow Mr Lin to be implicated by this matter, he probably likes Mr Lin.”

“How can you tell?” Xiang Han was even more surprised.

In the original story, Gu Yan Sheng had been secretly crushing for a long time, suppressing his feelings for over ten years before having a dog’s courage to confess.

“How could I not tell?” Lowering his head, his gaze was fixed on the words, ‘childhood sweethearts’ for a moment before flipping the page.

Tsk, look at you! Xiang Han deliberately asked, “Then, can you tell who I like?”

Shen Ze snorted without even looking up. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. Some things are impossible, so you’d better stop dreaming.”

“What things?” Xiang Han asked in confusion.

“You’re the clearest on it,” Shen Ze said, the implication clear in his tone.

Xiang Han was even more confused now, unable to obtain an answer even after wracking his brains for a good half day, and decided to give up. Taking out his phone, he asked, “Oh right, what should we have for lunch today?”

Hearing this, Shen Ze put down his book and began to think.

Towards the end of the year, the company was extremely busy. Shen Zheng Duo and Zhu Jing Yi were both too busy to leave while their helper had also requested  a few days off. Thus, both of them could only live on take-aways for a week.

“Pizza? Hotpot? Fried Chicken? Steamed Fish…” Xiang Han read them out one by one.

This made Shen Ze frown, “You’re eating all these every single day, don’t you get sick of it?”

“I won’t.” Such delicious food, why would he get sick of them?

“Forget it, it’s better to cook.” Shen Ze stood up, and walked past Xiang Han, pulling him along as they headed for the kitchen.

“W-Wait a minute, aren’t you the one cooking?” Stumbling along the way, Xiang Han tried to peel off the fingers pulling on him.

Shen Ze finally released him, crossing his arms. “You’re not eating?”

“...I am.”

“Then, come in.” Shen Ze tugged at him again, causing Xiang Han to struggle.

“You’d better not regret this!”

Going through the refrigerator, they finally found two potatoes, a few eggs, half a packet of seaweed and some withering capiscums.

Shen Ze directly tossed a potato over to him and instructed, “Peel and slice it.”

Afterwards, he cracked eggs into a bowl and slowly mixed it.

Xiang Han’s face was full of black lines. After struggling to peel the skin off, he began to slice it with much difficulty. Since he had practiced a few times in his last world, he naturally believed ]his actions were not bad.

However, Shen Ze was soon unable to watch any longer. Slamming the bowl down, he walked over to Xiang Han, “Do you think you’re pounding meat?”

Saying this, he immediately snatched the knife away while Xiang Han stood by the side, watching his hands fly about swiftly with a ‘thud, thud’ sound. Very quickly, thin strips of potato appeared.

Xiang Han was utterly dazzled by his speed and couldn’t help crying out in surprise, “So quick! Yet, you actually didn’t cut yourself?” He really lived up to his name as a little chopper, a little expert in slicing up things.

The moment he said this, Shen Ze froze, causing Xiang Han to ask, “You’re done already?”

Shen Ze suddenly turned around to look at him, his expression ferocious.

Xiang Han instinctively took a step back, a rising premonition in his heart as he peeked around to steal a glance. Unsurprisingly, the blade of the knife was stained red. A wave of guilt instantly washed over him. “Uh, is...is that serious?”

How strange, he didn’t use the word...‘not’ this time, why did his ability act up? It couldn’t be because his words were laced with a doubtful undertone?

The cut wasn’t too deep, it was only because the blood had mixed with the water droplets, causing it to appear extremely frightening. Shen Ze kept the knife aside and used water to wash out the cut while ordering Xiang Han around expressionlessly, “Help me find a tape and plaster.”

“Okay.” Xiang Hun hurriedly slipped away and came back with the items he had found. Passing it to Shen Ze, he asked, “Do you need help?”

Although he asked, he didn’t wait for Shen Ze to answer before he tore off a piece of tape and passed it to Shen Ze. He thought Shen Ze wanted to tape the plaster to make it waterproof, so he didn’t think too much.

Finished plastering his hand, he swept an expressionless gaze over and said, “It’s too short.”

Short? Xiang Han looked at his fingers holding the tape, “It’s not short.”

Shen Ze ignored him. Snatching the tape, he tore off a length and directly smacked it over Xiang Han’s mouth.

Xiang Han couldn’t react in time and had his mouth taped shut. He could only cry out ‘mmf, mmf’ before reaching out to tear it off.

Shen Ze tore off another piece and plastered it over the first one while warning him, “ From now on, you’re not allowed to speak. If you dare to take it off, don’t even think of eating lunch.”

Xiang Han, “Wuu...Wu….” Fine, in consideration of your injured finger, I won’t bicker with you and reluctantly concede.

Feeling satisfied with his reactions, Shen Ze gave another order, “Now, go wash the rice and cook it.”

Xiang Han, “...”

Half an hour later, Shen Ze laid the dishes on the table. On taking a bite, his brows finally eased. The food he had cooked was fine; the only exception in this beautiful scene was the rice which was a little hard. At least it wasn’t half-cooked.

He threw a glance at Xiang Han and said, “You should use more water next time and also, you can take the tape off now.”

Xiang Han took a look at the plate of shredded potatoes and recalled how it had been stained with Shen Ze’s blood. He instantly shook his head, adamant on not taking it off.

Shen Ze’s face went dark. He suddenly went forward and tore off the strips of tape before pushing the bowl of shredded potatoes in front of Xiang Han. “Eat,” he commanded coldly.

Xiang Han’s expression twisted as he looked at the potatoes with great bitterness and resentment. Finally, he picked up some and forced it into his mouth.

Shen Ze’s face became even uglier as he gritted his teeth, “Is it that disgusting?”

Tasting it, Xiang Han’s eyes lit up in disbelief, “It’s not bad.”

 Hearing this, Shen Ze’s face suddenly gained a lot more warmth and the corners of his lips couldn’t resist turning up. He snorted lightly, “Do you think everyone is like you who can’t even cook rice?”

The next day, Xiang Han was scrolling through his phone and abruptly looked over with an eager expression, “Elder brother, are you cooking today?”

Shen Ze took a look at the plaster around his finger and didn’t even think twice, “Let’s call for take-out.”

Winter vacation flew by and within the blink of an eye, school resumed. Every student was utterly focused on studying but with his system, Xiang Han didn’t need to worry about his grades and only focused on preventing Shen Ze from blackening.

Shen Ze had just finished his self-study of the first year’s textbook and was moving on to the second year’s syllabus. Seeing Xiang Han’s careless attitude, he couldn’t help feeling surprised.

He never saw Xiang Han put much effort into studying but his results were always pretty good. He also didn’t look particularly sharp, it couldn’t be that he was the rumoured nerd, right?

Xiang Han noticed his gaze and turned back to the mathematics book in front of him, a burst of excitement surging in him, “Is there something you don’t understand? Let me teach you.”

“No need.” Shen Ze shook his head, his expression cold.

“I think it’s better if I teach you now.” Xiang Han didn’t give up, having completely forgotten his lesson from the second world.

In the preliminary examinations two months later, Shen Ze’s position in class had risen up to the top ten, shocking many people’s jaws into hitting the floor once more. Although Xiang Han didn’t teach him much, he inexplicably felt a sense of pride.

As the national exams approached, Shen Ze’s results had already secured him second place in class since a long time, constantly below Xiang Han, and he was top five in the entire year.

In the past, when his rank was counted from the back, Shen Ze didn’t care at all. But now that he was the second in class, seeing the name above his made him uncomfortable, especially since the owner of that name didn’t seem to particularly work hard and constantly day-dreamt in class.

Towards the day of the examination, Shen Ze burned the midnight oil every night in hopes of suppressing Xiang Han. But after all, Xiang Han had his external cheat and in the end, Shen Ze wasn’t able to succeed. And then, the examinations ended.

When he received his result slip, he couldn’t help throwing a glance in Xiang Han’s direction. Seeing the grades which were only a few points higher than his, a complicated feeling rose in his heart.

Unfortunately, Xiang Han just had to choose this time to come forward happily and say, “Eh? Our marks are almost the same, we can go to the same high school now.”

Shen Ze, “Who wants to go to the same school as you? My goal was originally the Twenty-third high school.”

“I also chose the Twenty-third high school.”

These words made Shen Ze’s heart feel stuffy, unable to recover as he could only ask grumpily, “Didn’t you say you were going to apply to the First High school?”

“Ah?” Xiang Han pondered for a moment and seemed to recall that he really had said these words before. Therefore, he could only laugh dryly, “That… I was just casually saying it. I heard Uncle Shen say you were applying to Twenty-third high school and after discussing it with my mom, she also felt Twenty-third high school is better. At least, they aren’t as strict.”

This made Shen Ze frown. Did Xiang Han like him so much, to the point he could even forego his own aspirations?

For some reason, he suddenly felt it was a little unbearable and decided to remind him, “Your mother and my father have already been recognised by the law, so some things are impossible. I’ll let you off this time, but don’t do such meaningless stuff like this again in the future.”

Saying so, he didn’t wait for Xiang Han’s reply before turning around and leaving Xiang Han stunned.

Standing frozen in his original position, Xiang Han only muttered to himself after a moment, “What’s impossible? What on earth did I do?”

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T/n: Thanks to everyone who left me kind messages and support, I really appreciate it. This one week has been tough but I'm in an emotionally better place now after I spent the last week coming to terms with everything. I'm still getting back on my feet but i'm gonna work hard and get over the inevitable + bring you guys constant updates ^_^